Quince Marmalade

Roll over Seville orange and make way for quince.  My new favourite ingredient for marmalade is not new at all.  It was the principle constituent in the original marmalades.

The resulting marmalade is cheek-tinglingly tasty.  Here's my recipe for about 24 x 190ml jars:

Ingredients

2.4kg quinces

600g lemons

1.5 litres water

2.5kg sugar

Method

Halve the lemons lengthways and slice as thick as you like the shreds in your 
marmalade, then place in the jam pan with the water. 

Quarter the quinces, remove the cores and slice like the lemons. Put the slices in 
the jam pan and put the cores, tied up in muslin, in the pan as well. 

Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove the bag of cores, squeeze the pectin rich liquid out of it in to the jam pan. 

Add the sugar and boil to setting point.  

This shouldn't take too long. Test by placing a spoonful onto a cold plate (keep a 
few handy in the freezer in advance) and after a minute, push it with a finger. If the 
surface wrinkles then it is done.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. This allows the 
marmalade to begin to set so that the fruit and rind doesn't settle too much when 
poured into the jars. 

Sterilise clean jars and lids by placing in an oven at 130°C for ten minutes. 

Pour into the jars and put the lids on. 

Pumpkin and Chestnut Soup

Wondering what to do with the leftover insides of the pumpkin after carving your Jack o'lantern, but want something other than pumpkin pie?  Then try this autumnal soup:

Ingredients

10 Chestnuts (or a tin / pack of prepared chestnuts)
One small Pumpkin
600ML Chicken stock
A dash of cream, yoghurt etc
Nutmeg

Method

Peel the chestnuts in whatever way you see fit or use pre prepared ones; Usual method is to make a cut on the curved face and roast or blanch for 5 mins before peeling.
Place the peeled chestnuts in a pan with the pumpkin flesh, minus the tough exterior and the seeds and stringy bits from inside.
Cover with the stock.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
Blitz.
Grate nutmeg over and season with salt if needed (depends on the stock used).
Stir in the cream, yoghurt or creme fraiche etc
Serve